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MOTD: Aston Villa 2-1 West Bromwich Albion

By on March 3, 2015

There are moments in every season that have the power to make or break a given team; fewer, though, that can go either way. As Christian Benteke stepped up to the penalty spot against West Bromwich Albion today, it felt like one of the latter: coming into today’s match Aston Villa were still going through a thirteen-match winless streak, and without a win in an evenly-squared Midlands Derby against West Bromwich Albion, Tim Sherwood’s hope of six wins to keep Villa up would begin to fail. The setting was ripe for the moment, at Villa Park with the score tied. Convert, and Villa will only have to see out a lead for a minute or so more of stoppage time; miss, and relegation continues to breath down their neck. Benteke picked the perfect time to come up big.

Actually, Villa were provided a helping hand by West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster. From the opening quarter-hour — Foster let Gabriel Agbonlahor’s low volley trickle through his legs before rescuing the ball on the goalline — to the final minute, Foster made multiple errors, namely failing to hold onto the ball and then taking down Matthew Lowton in the buildup to Villa’s last-minute penalty.

Villa did dominate the possession and shots stats, to be fair. In the entirety of the first half only Chris Brunt managed a shot for West Brom, albeit from thirty yards out. Tim Sherwood’s men promised some beautiful football, and just twenty-two minutes in, Agbolahor got ahead of Joleon Lescott to get on the end of Brad Guzan’s long ball — his shot went through the legs of Forster and into the far corner of the net, opening the scoring.

However, for the next hour of football Villa were frustrated, not so much due to the defense of West Brom but their own finishing which has lacked so far this season. Agbonlahor’s curling beauty from twenty yards struck the inside of the post right before halftime, but things would get worse before they got better for Villa.

Seventy minutes in, with the second of West Brom’s three shots throughout the ninety minutes, Lescott headed a far post corner back into the mixer, where Saido Berahino snapped another headed effort home. For the nth time this season, Villa were on the brink of an unruly defeat sparked by poor finishing.

This time, though, may be the one moment that changes all that. With Sherwood coming in to replace Paul Lambert, the future looks bright after today. Ninety-two minutes in Foster spilled Fabian Delph’s low, bouncing effort, before rectifying himself by denying Leonardo Bacuna from the rebound. However, the ball went out wide to Alan Hutton’s whose cross deflected down at the far post; Foster dove for it, only to spill the ball and bring down Lowton on the rebound. The rest is history: Benteke for once this season came up big, finishing the penalty as coolly as possible with a stutter-step.
Man of the Match: Gabriel Agbonlahor

Photo credit: VinnyMan1 on Flickr

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.